The idea of piety and conscribing to a set of vows that one must never break was, interesting. The concept itself was near to impossible when one looked at the changes in society and man throughout even a single person's lifetime. Adding to those facts, any given religion could alter what they believed to be 'holy' at any time. In fact, they often did. When one took into account the constant changes in the beliefs of the Catholic church alone, it was understandable why that alone would cause someone to 'break their vows.'

Still, for this man alone other things were more important than those of the changes in society and religion. "Perhaps it was the path your god wanted you to be on." Even if Richard was an atheist, he could understand the importance of a belief structure. Clearly, it was an important part of Athelstan, and contrary to popular belief, he didn't pull away from other's security blankets just for fun.